Once Upon a Time Lord: The Snowmen
by The Craver
Summary: The Professor and Belle go to Victorian London to see if they can cheer the Doctor up. But what the Professor doesn't realise is that he gets another shot at true love again. My Once Upon a Time Lord stories are dedicated to my inspirations; VoiceOfTime and ElizabethGold.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

The Professor, Belle and Strax landed in a dark alleyway in Victorian London. They had came there via a Vortex Manipulator that Strax had given him a couple of hours earlier.

"Well, I really should be going to Madame Vastra and Jenny again," Strax said. "Would you like to join me?"

"No. I think we should look around for a bit," the Professor said. "May find someting useful to help us."

"Right." Strax bowed and headed off to his home with Madame Vastra.

"Um, now what?" Belle asked.

"First, you need to change into proper Victorian clothes..." the Professor said, then looked around til, making sure there was no one around. Once he was sure, he waved his hand and engulfed Belle in blue smoke. Once the smoke cleared, Belle was in her blue dress with white shirt. The Professor smiled at his work and started to walk off. "Coming, Belle?"

"Yes. I'm coming," she said, starting to walk off after him.

* * *

The Professor and Belle walked around for what seemed ages til they came to an Inn. The Rose and Crown it was called. The Professor opened the door, and let Belle go in first, then he followed her in and made his way to a table. He and Belle sat down and waited for a waitress to come and serve them. One did. A brunette waitress wearing a red dress with a red shawl.

So...What can I get for the lovely couple?" the waitress asked.

"Oh, we're so not a couple. She's dating my, uh, uncle..." the Professor said, going back to what he called Mr Gold during the curse.

The waitress smiled. "Good. Now, what would you like to order?"

"I'll have a glass of whiskey. Belle, what would you like to have?"

"I'll have some mead," Belle said.

The waitress smiled again and left them to get the two their drinks. She came back a couple of minutes later, giving them their drinks, and sitting down. "There you are," she said.

The Professor looked at her. "Shouldn't you be working?" he asked.

"Oh, I'm due for a break," she said. "So, what are you guy's names?"

"I'm Belle, and that's the Professor," Belle said, taking a sip from her mead.

"The Professor, huh?" the waitress said, cupping the Professor's cheek with her hand. "Now I have a name for your cute face. My name's Clara."

"What a lovely name. Clara," the Professor said.

"Thanks, I'm thinking about keeping it."

The Professor chuckled. "So, do you know anywhere we can spend the night?"

"You can always stay with me," Clara said, getting up. "I don't mind. I'll show you now."

"Okay," the Professor said, getting up to, with Belle.

Once they were up, Clara lead out the door and towards her house, which was nearby, and up some wooden stairs, Once they got there, Clara unlocked the door and walked in, followed by the Professor and Belle.

"It's lovely," Belle said.

"Thanks," Clara said. "Now, I only have two bedrooms, so one of you is gonna have to share with me."

"Belle. You take the other bedroom. I'll share with Clara," the Professor said.

"Okay," Belle said, as she slowly headed to her room.

"Look after that bracelet too."

"I will."

"Good," the Professor said to Belle, then focused his attention on Clara. "Show me to your room."

"Okay," Clara said, smiling and took his hand as she led him to the room. It was small, with a double bed against the wall, but it looked cosy and comfy.

"I'm gonna like sleeping here," the Professor said, taking off his scarf, jacket and knee-high boots, before hopping into the bed. "Now, you can undress into your night gown and I can keep my head under the blankets while you do..."

"You'd better keep under the covers." Clara warned sharply. Making sure the Professor couldn't see, Clara quickly undressed. She pulled the Victorian nightdress over her head causing her hair to attract static. "You can look now." Clara said as she patted down her hair.

The Professor put his head up and smiled, opening the blankets so she could get in. She smiled her thanks at him as she climbed in. "You look beautiful..." the Professor said.

"Thank you," Clara said, as she cuddled up into the blankets, and him. Though he didn't mind. Part of him knew he had to move on with his life, after Oswin, and he knew Clara would be the one to do it. He cuddled into her back, as they drifted off to sleep together.


	2. The Snowmen: Doctor Who?

**Chapter ONE: Doctor Who...?**

The next day, the Professor and Clara woke up together. They found themselves all cuddled up together, which they found to be a very sweet moment. They got dressed and met Belle in the Kitchen. She had decided to get a head start on breakfast. Both Clara and the Professor helped Belle and after breakfast, they all went back to The Rose and Crown, where the Professor and Belle sat at a table, watching Clara work. Well, only the Professor watched Clara. He had a daydream look on his face, like he was caught in a trance.

"You like her, don't you?" Belle asked the Professor.

The Professor turned his attention to Belle. "What gave it away?" he asked.

"Well...you look at her through a tranced state."

"Oh...Well maybe I do. To me, she seems familiar."

"Like Oswin?"

"Exactly."

While the Professor and Belle were talking, Clara had gathered some empty tankards from the tables and went outside, where she put the try. When she turned around there was a snowman just standing there. She went back into the inn to get the Professor and Belle. "Can you come with me?" She asked.

"Sure. what's up?" the Professor asked, following Clara outside.

"This snowman. It appeared from nowhere."

The Professor went closer to the snowman inspecting it, when a man in Victorian clothes and a top hat walked past them.

Clara asked the man, "Did you make this snowman?"

"No," the man said.

The Professor looked up and went over the the man, Clara and Belle. "That sounds like..." he started to say.

"...The Doctor..." Belle said, as the Doctor revealed himself to them.

"You guys know him?" Clara asked.

The Professor and Belle nodded. "He's my father," the Professor said.

"Well, does he know who built this snowman? Because it wasn't there a second ago. It just appeared, from nowhere. "

The Doctor turned around and headed back to the snowman, where he examined it. "Maybe it's snow that fell before. Maybe it remembers how to make snowmen..."

"What, snow that can remember? That's silly," Clara said.

"What's wrong with silly?"

"Nothing. I'm still here with you guys, right?"

"What's your name?"

"Clara."

"Nice name. Clara. You should definitely keep it. Goodbye!" The Doctor said, turning to leave.

The Professor, Belle and Clara followed him. "Dad? Where are you going?" The Professor asked.

"Yeah..." Clara agreed. "I thought we were just getting acquainted..."

"Those were the days..." the Doctor said, turning around again slightly.

"Dad...If you don't mind, could you take Belle with you? I'm gonna make sure Clara goes home safely..." the Professor said.

"Fine..." the Doctor said, reluctantly.

Belle walked up to the Doctor and both started to walk together, while the Professor and Clara started to walk back to the inn, when Clara stopped.

"What's wrong?" The Professor asked Clara.

"I just want to find out more about him..." she said, then started to run after the Doctor, and the Professor started to run after her. They then ran together, hand in hand, as they chased the Doctor's brougham carriage.

* * *

Meanwhile, inside the carriage, the Doctor and Belle were sitting down across from each other, while they talked to Madame Vastra through a phone. "How refreshing to see you taking an interest again. Was she nice?" Madame Vastra asked.

I just spoke to her," the Doctor said.

"The Professor and I did..." Belle said. "I think the Professor has taken a shine to her..."

"And the Doctor made his usual impact, no doubt," Madame Vastra said.

"No, no impact at all. Those days are over," the Doctor said.

"You can't help yourself. It's the same story every time. And it always begins with the same two words."

"She'll never be able to find me again. She doesn't even have the name. Doctor. What two words?"

And just at that moment, Clara popped his head through the roof, so she was upside-down. The Professor was on the outside, holding her, making sure she didn't fall. "Doctor?" Clara asked. "Doctor who?"


	3. The Snowmen: Living on a Cloud

**Chapter TWO: Living on a Cloud**

Outside The Great Intelligence Institute, Strax was watching Walter Simeon through electric binoculars. Nearby, was the Doctor and Belle. And sitting on the steps of the rocking carriage that Clara was locked in - she was screaming, trying to be let out - the Professor was doing something with his magic to the snow, to preoccupy himself, since he wasn't allowed to touch the carriage. Anyway, as Strax was watching Simeon, he noted, "They've taken samples from snowmen all over London. What do you suppose they're doing in there?"

"This snow is new. Possibly alien. When you find something brand new in the world, something you've never seen before, what's the next thing you look for?" The Doctor asked.

"A grenade," Strax said excitedly.

"A profit. That's Victorian values for you," the Doctor corrected Strax,

"I suggest a full frontal assault with automated laser monkeys, scalpel mines and acid."

"Is he always like this?" Belle asked.

"Pretty much," the Doctor said to Belle, then said to Strax, "Why would you suggest that?"

"Couldn't we at least investigate?" Strax asked.

"It's none of our business."

"Sir, permission to express my opposition to your current apathy?"

"Permission granted."

"Sir, I am opposed to your current apathy."

"Let me out!" Clara's voice rang out again, hoping to be heard.

"Thank you, Strax," the Doctor said, ignoring Clara. "And if ever I'm in need of advice from a psychotic potato dwarf, you'll certainly be the first to know."

"But if the snow is new and alien, shouldn't we be making some attempt to destroy it? Be reasonable," Strax said.

"Let me out!" Clara yelled again.

"It is not our problem. Over a thousand years of saving the universe, Strax, you know the one thing I learned? The universe doesn't care," the Doctor said.

"In this cab. Oi, Doctor! Let me out! Are you listening to me?!" Clara yelled again.

"Now, we have a problem of our own to worry about," the Doctor said, heading over to the carriage.

"Clara, right?" Belle asked.

"Yes," the Doctor said, who looked over at what the Professor was doing. "What are you making?"

The Professor picked up the frozen love heart he made from the snow and put it into his pocket. "Nothing," he said, in a rush.

"Let me out!" Clara said, as the Doctor opened the carriage door. "Oi!"

"Don't worry. No one's going to hurt you," the Doctor said, sitting opposite her in the carriage."

"What is that thing?" Clara asked of Strax.

"Silence, boy!" Strax ordered.

"That is Strax," the Professor said.

"Yeah. And as you can see, he's easily confused," the Doctor said.

"Silence, girl. Sorry, lad," Strax said.

"Sontaran. Clone warrior race. Factory produced, whole legions at a time. Two genders is a bit further than he can count," the Doctor said.

"Sir, do not discuss my reproductive cycle in front of enemy girls. It's embarrassing," Strax said in a hushed voice.

"Typical middle child of six million."

"Who are you?" Clara asked the Doctor.

"It doesn't matter because you're about to forget that you and I ever met," the Doctor said to Clara, then to Strax, he said, "We'll need the worm."

"Sir," Strax said.

"What worm?" the Professor said in an alarmed state. "What are you gonna do to Clara?"

"Don't worry, it won't hurt, but one touch on her bare skin and She'll lose the last hour of her memory," the Doctor said. "She'll still know you." Just as the Doctor finished explaining, Strax returned, empty handed, which made the Doctor ask, "Where is it?"

"Where's what, sir?" Strax asked back.

"I sent you to get the memory worm."

"Did you? When? Who's he? What are we doing here? Look, it's been snowing!" Strax said, in an amused tone.

"You didn't use the gauntlets, did you?"

"Why would I need the gauntlets? Do you want me to get the memory worm?"

"You," the Doctor said to Strax, in a tone meaning he was fed up with him.

* * *

A few minutes later, Strax was under the carriage, trying to catch the escaped memory worm, with the Doctor standing close to the carriage and the Professor, Belle and Clara all off to the side.

"Well, can you see it?" The Doctor asked.

"I think I can hear it," Strax said.

Clara let out a giggle, which made the Doctor turn around. "Oi, don't try to run away. Stay where you are," he said to her.

"Why would I run? I know what's going to happen next and it's funny," Clara said.

"It is funny, isn't it?" the Professor asked, putting an arm around Clara's waist, which made her look at him. But she didn't mind.

"What's funny?" The Doctor asked.

"Well, your little pal, for a start. He's an ugly little fella, isn't he?" Clara said.

"Maybe. He gave his life for a friend of mine once."

"Then how come he's alive?"

"Another friend of mine brought him back. I'm not sure all his brains made the return trip!"

"I don't think so either," Belle said, going over to the other side of the Doctor.

"I can see it," Strax said of the memory worm.

"Ooo! Can you reach it? Have you got it?" The Doctor asked, getting all excited.

Strax reached towards it, then was silent after a while, retracting his arm back. "Got what, sir?"

Belle pulled up the gauntlets and held them up for everyone to see. "These are the gauntlets that he's supposed to wear, right?" She asked, with the Doctor looking at her, kinda horrified.

"Sir, emergency! I think I've been run over by a cab," Strax said, which left the Professor and Clara in a fit of giggles.

* * *

A few moments later, the Doctor was using the gauntlets to get hold of the memory worm, which was large and white in colour. "There you go. One touch and you lose about an hour of your memory. Let it bite you and you could lose decades," the Doctor said, explaining the memory worm to the Professor, Clara and Belle, as he put it into the crystal-clear jar. He then looked at them, and noticed Clara was still with them. "And you're still not trying to run."

"I don't understand how the snowman built itself," Clara said, then linked her left arm around the Professor's right arm. "But why would I run when I have a brave, strong man by my side."

"Clara who?"

"Doctor who?"

"Oh, dangerous question."

"What's wrong with dangerous?" Clara asked, just as a snowman appeared out of nowhere, which she noticed at first.

"The snow emits a low level telepathic field..." the Doctor started to explain.

"My snowman..." Clara said, of the snowman, getting the Professor's attention to it first.

"...It seems to reflect people's thoughts and memories and because it's unusual, somehow it carries a previous shape and..." the Doctor continued but was cut off by the Professor.

"Dad. Another snowman has just appeared..." the Professor said.

"Ah! Interesting. Well, were you thinking about it?" The Doctor asked Clara.

"Yes," Clara said, as more appeared around them, encircling them from all around.

"Well, stop. Clara, stop thinking about the snowmen!" The Doctor ordered, just as the nearest snowman breathed snowflakes at them.

"Allow me..." the Professor said, making a fireball appear in his right hand, flames crackling as he did, and threw it at the closest snowman. As the fireball made contact with the snowman, it melted it. The Professor made another fireball and threw it at another snowman, which melted that one too. But as each snowman disappeared more took its place.

"Get down! All of you!" The Doctor ordered, as all of them all huddled togethr. "Now, Clara, listen to me. The snow's feeding off your thoughts."

"I don't understand," Clara said.

"You're caught in their telepathic field. They're mirroring you. The more you think about the snowmen, the more they appear. Imagine them melting. Picture it. Picture them melted!" The Doctor ordered, as Clara thought about all the snowmen being melted. As soon as she did, all the snowmen melted and the group of four got splashed with icy water. "Well, very good. Very, very good. Ha!" The Doctor exclaimed.

"So, Professor...how did you do those fireballs?" Clara asked.

"Oh, that," the Professor said. "I can do magic. Are you ok with that?"

"Yeah. At least, I think I'm fine. So, Doctor, is that gonna happen again...?"

"Well, if it does, you know what to do about it," the Doctor said.

"Unless I forget," Clara said, which made the Doctor put Clara in the carriage.

"Don't come looking for me. Forget about me. You understand?" The Doctor asked, as the Professor climbed in to the carriage too. "What are you doing, son?"

"Well, I'm gonna keep my promise. Make sure Clara arrives home safely," the Professor said.

"What about the snow? Shouldn't we be warning people?" Clara asked.

"Not my problem. Merry Christmas," the Doctor said to Clara, closing the door of the carriage and tapping the window, then said to Strax, who was in the driver's seat, "Take her back where we found her."

"Sir," Strax said, as he started to drive on, but the Professor and Clara weren't in the carriage as it took off. They had snuck off in attempt to find out where the Doctor actually lived. It was a mutual agreement. As they saw the Doctor and Belle head off, the Professor and Clara followed, but they stayed in the shadows, careful not to be seen. They followed them to the park (to which the Doctor started to whistle non-chalently to the tune of Silent Night, making sure the coast was clear), where they head behind a tree; Clara peering from one side, and the Professor peering from the other. They watched the Doctor jump up and grabbed the ladder, which he pulled down, and started to climb, with Belle following him. Once both were up, the ladder rose up and disappeared too.

The Professor and Clara waited for a couple of seconds before creeping out to the spot where both the Doctor and Belle were. Clara decided to jump for the ladder too, but she fell down. The Professor helped her up and jumped for the ladder himself; his attempt being successful. Once the ladder was down, he offered Clara to climb up first. "After you," he said.

"After you," Clara said back. "I'm wearing a dress. Eye's front, soldier."

The Professor started to climb up. "My eyes always face the front."

"Mine don't," Clara said cheekily, which made the Professor chuckle.

At the top of the ladder, the Professor helped Clara up on the platform. Once she was up, she looked down and waved at the passers-by, but they never saw her. "Invisible..." she noted. "Is this more magic?" She asked the Professor.

He shook her head. "No. I'd say this is a perception filter. It's not really invisible. It just makes people black it out.

"Oh," Clara said, sounding disappointed.

"But this is made from magic..." the Professor said, taking out his enchanted love heart that he made earlier. "For you. It's made from the snow. I melted it, then shaped it into a heart, then refroze it, before enchanting it so it can never break or melt. It symbolises my love for you, Clara, as it will never end too."

Clara took the love heart with a smile. "Awww..." she said, embracing the Professor in a hug. "This is the most sweetest, most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me..."

After they hugged, they climbed the staircase, hand in hand. They climbed the spiral staircase til they got to a cloud, where the TARDIS was. The Professor stepped out on to the cloud first then spun around, helping Clara on to the cloud, who stepped on it, holding the Professor's hands, tentatively. Once she was on. She crept up to the TARDIS and knocked on the door, with the Professor right behind her. Once she heard someone coming, she grabbed the Professor's hand and took him to the side of the TARDIS, where both where hidden.

The Doctor opened the doors of the TARDIS, and saw no one there. "Hello...?" He asked. He walked around the side, just after Clara and the Professor go around the back. "Hello...?" He asked again. "Hello...?" But there was no answer.

The three circled the TARDIS then the Professor and Clara headed to the staircase. Before CLara descended the staircase, she pulled the Professor to her and gave him a light peck before descending the staircase, but not before she dropped her shawl. The Professor bent down and picked it up, staring down the staircase.

The Doctor saw the Professor and went over to him. "Was it you that knocked on the TARDIS doors?" He asked.

The Professor stood up and spun around. "No. I just got here," he lied.

The Doctor noticed the shawl. "What's that? Where'd you get it?"

"Clara gave it to me, as a thank you gift."

"Oh, well, come on into the TARDIS. I have something to show you..."


	4. Interlude ONE

**Interlude ONE**

The Doctor led the Professor into the TARDIS, which was situated on the cloud above London. "So, what did you want to show me?" The Professor asked as he followed the Doctor in the TARDIS.

"This..." the Doctor said, as the lights inside the console room turned on and the Professor saw that the interior of the TARDIS had changed. Gone was the colourful design that the Professor had travelled in with his father, Amy and Rory. Now it was white and sleek, with lights streaming around the sides.

"Wow..." the Professor said, his breath taken away.

"You like it, huh?" The Doctor asked.

"Like it? I love it. But what made you change it?"

"Oh, the old design reminded me of Amy. I needed to take my mind off her."

"Oh. I understand," the Professor said, looking at the console. He stopped when he came to something familiar on the console. "Is this...?"

"The compass fro the Enchanted Forest? Yes it is. Fully integrated into the TARDIS. Now it will be easier to go to those bubble universes..."

"Yep," the Professor said smiling, as he went to find Belle throughout the TARDIS. He found her in the TARDIS library, curled up in a sofa, reading a book. "Hey..." he said, going up to her.

Belle looked up. Hey," she said with a smile. "Clara get home okay?"

"Yeah. She got home ok," he said, sitting beside her, putting Clara's shawl on his lap.

"Good to see you've gotten over Oswin..."

"Yeah. I guess I have. With Clara, I feel what you feel when you're with Rumple."

Belle smiled. "Well, I guess you two are meant to be with each other, forever."


	5. TS: Finding the Doctor and the Professor

**Chapter THREE: Finding the Doctor and the Professor**

At the Great Intelligence Institute, workmen were feeding snow samples from all around London into a giant snow globe, which was otherwise called the Intelligence. As the workmen were 'feeding' the Intelligence, it spoke, saying, "Tonight the thaw. Tomorrow the snow will fall again, yet stronger. The drowned woman and the dreaming child will give us form at last. Tomorrow the snow will fall and so shall mankind. She is coming."

* * *

The next day, Clara woke up in her bed. She sat up and stretched her arms, smiling and looked at the frozen heart beside her bed, and smiled wider. She got up and got dressed in her maroon dress and left, carrying a black, Gladstone bag. "Look at that. Must have thawed in the night," Clara said, looking around as she went outside, noting that all the snow had thawed.

The landlord of the inn followed her outside, trying to get Clara to stay and help out. "I'm begging you, Clara. I'm on my knees," he said.

"Elsie is back this afternoon, and I was only helping out. I've got my work to get back to."

"What work? Why won't you ever tell us?"

"You'd never believe me," Clara said, as she waved goodbye and entered a carriage, pulling the blinds down as she began to change her clothes, into prim and proper clothes. The carriage stopped outside Darkover house and Clara exited it, met Alice, the maid of Darkover House, and spoke, rather posh, to her, "Alice, how smart you look today."

"The governess should enter by the back door, unless accompanied by the children," Alice said, as she stifled a laugh.

"And how are the children? Excited about tomorrow?"

"Francesca, same as ever. Digby says he missed you every day. Captain Latimer wants to see you."

"Of course," Clara said, as she started to walk into the house, then stopped, and turned around. "Every day?"

"Twice on Saturdays."

"That's better," Clara said, smiling, as she continued to walk into the house, on her way to see Captain Latimer.

* * *

Clara walked into the study, and spoke up. "Captain Latimer," she said.

"Ah. Miss Montague, you're back," Captain Latimer said, using her pseudonym that she had used for her governess job.

"In time for Christmas. Apologies for my brief absence. Family illness is so unpredictable. You wanted to see me?"

"Francesca has been having nightmares."

"Young girls often do."

"Every night this week, she says. Won't tell me about them."

"Perhaps if you asked her in the right way, there's no one she'd rather tell."

"Children are not really my area of ability."

"They are, however, your children."

"You have, if I may say, a remarkable amount of wisdom in these matters, for one so very pretty, Miss Montague..." Captain Latimer said, then tried to correct himself. "Young, I mean."

Clara stared at him. Normally, she wouldn't have minded this, but that was before she met the Professor and had been given the frozen heart representing his love for her. She didn't want to let them down. "I'll see to the children now."

* * *

In the yard of Darkover House, a pair of children, a boy and a girl, were playing chase, when they spotted Clara, and ran over to her.

"Miss Montague! " The girl known as Francesca exclaimed.

"Miss Montague, you're back!" The boy known as Digby exclaimed.

"Ah, ah, ah!" Clara said, stopping them, and reminding them to behave like proper children.

"Good morning, Miss Montague," both the children said, as Clara shook their hands.

"Good morning, Francesca. Good morning, Digby. Christmas Eve is the most thrilling day, don't you think? Now, what have you two been up to while I've been away?" Clara asked.

"I did seven drawings and we saw a dead cow," Digby said.

"Well, how exciting."

"Do your secret voice."

Clara looked around to see if they were alone, then said, in her normal voice, "'Allo, mates."

* * *

A few minutes later, both Clara and Francesca were sitting on a bench in the yard, talking about the nightmares that Francesca had had lately. "They're not exactly nightmares. Just dreams," Francesca said.

"About our old governess. The one who died. She's haunting Frannie from beyond the grave," Digby said, going over to them.

"Haven't you spoken to your father about this?" Clara asked.

"You can't talk about things like that to Daddy," Francesca said.

"You could try."

"Do you want to see where she died?" Digby asked.

The three then went around to the front of the house to the pond, which was the only thing that was frozen. "She fell in there, and then it froze. She was in the ice for days and days. I hated her. She was cross all the time. In Frannie's dream she's still down there, waiting to come back," Digby explained.

Clara knelt and touched the frozen pond. "Everything else has thawed, but this pond is still frozen..." This made Clara remember that the Doctor told her earlier - _"The snow is feeding off your thoughts. The more you think about the snowmen, the more they appear." - _Clara spoke up again, and asked Francesca, "Frannie, this is important. You dream about her. What do you dream?"

"She's cross with me. She says I've been bad, and she's going to come out of the pond and punish me," Francesca said.

"When?"

"She said she'd come back for Christmas. Tonight."

"I think Frannie's gone mad, don't you? I think she needs a doctor."

* * *

Clara then decided to visit the Doctor and the Professor after hearing Francesca and Digby. She ran to the park where she had visited with the Professor and called out, "Doctor! Professor!"

Her calling out to people in thin air had caused people to crowd around, asking and wondering what she was doing. Clara started to jump in the air, hoping to grab the ladder, but she couldn't get it. "Doctor! Professor!? She called out again.

Jenny, the companion to Madame Vastra, then walked up next to Clara. "Now then, that's enough noise. We don't want to attract attention, do we?" She asked.

"I'm looking for the Doctor. And his son Do you know about them? The Doctor and the Professor?"

"Doctor who?" Jenny asked.


	6. Interlude TWO

**Interlude TWO**

Up on the cloud, the Professor was standing outside the TARDIS, staring down over London and holding the shawl, when Belle walked up behind him. "Hey..." she said.

The Professor turned around. "Hey..." he replied.

"Watcha doing?"

"Just thinking..."

"Bout Clara?"

"Yeah. I really want to see her again."

Belle turned around, then whispered, "Then go..."

"You sure?" The Professor asked.

"Yes. I'll make sure it stays between us..."

The Professor hugged Belle. "Thanks," he said, nodding, then poofing to The Rose and Crown in a whirl of blue smoke.

* * *

Once the Professor ended up outside the Rose and Crown, he entered and went up to the counter, where the landlord was working. He spoke up. "Hey. I'm looking for one of your barmaids. Clara's her name. Is she around?"

The landlord shook his head. "You just missed her. She just left this morning."

"You know where she went?"

"No. She said that she had her own work she had to go back to, but none of us here knows what it is. She's a mystery, that Clara..."

"She sure is..." the Professor muttered to himself, then said to the landlord, "Well, thanks..." He then turned and walked out the door and went into a quiet alleyway, made sure no one was around, then poofed away in a whirl of blue smoke.

* * *

The Professor ended up on the cloud again, in front of Belle. "That was quick..." she noted. "You talk to her?"

"No," the Professor said, shaking his head. "She wasn't there..."

"Oh...You know when she was coming back?"

"Nope. Wasn't her proper job, either. Guess I'll never find her again," the Professor said, hugging Belle.

"If you are meant to be with her, you will see Clara again..." Belle said, hugging back, before both walked back into the TARDIS.


	7. The Snowmen: Pond

**Chapter FOUR: Pond**

Back on the ground, Jenny took Clara, still dressed in her posh outfit, to Madame Vastra's home. They were first met by Strax, before taking her to Madame Vastra, where Jenny instructed her to sit. Once Clara was seated, Madame Vastra said, "There are two refreshments in your world the colour of red wine. This is not red wine."

"Madame Vastra will ask you questions. You will confine yourself to single word responses. One word only, do you understand?" Jenny, who was standing behind Clara, asked her.

"Why?" Clara asked.

"Truth is singular. Lies are words, words, words. You met the Doctor and his son, didn't you?" Madame Vastra asked.

"Yes."

"And now you've come looking for them again. Why?"

"Take your time. One word only," Jenny said.

"Curiosity," Clara said.

"About?" Madame Vastra asked.

"Snow."

"And about them?"

"Yes."

"What do you want from them?"

"Help."

"Why?"

"Danger."

"Why would they help you?"

"Love."

This answer made Madame Vastra confused. "Elaborate on that answer..."

Clara took a deep breath. "The Professor. He loves me. And I love him. And his father, the Doctor, seems kind..."

"The Doctor is not kind."

"No?"

"No. The Doctor doesn't help people. Not anyone, not ever. He stands above this world and doesn't interfere in the affairs of its inhabitants. He is not your salvation, nor your protector. Do you understand what I am saying to you?"

"Words," Clara said, which made Madame Vastra and Jenny look at each other, surprised.

"He was different once, a long time ago. Kind, yes. A hero, even. A saver of worlds. But he suffered losses which hurt him. Now he prefers isolation to the possibility of pain's return. Kindly choose a word to indicate your understanding of this," Madame Vastra said.

"Man."

"We are the Doctor's friends. We assist him in his isolation but that does not mean we approve of it. So, a test for you. Give me a message for the Doctor. Tell him all about the snow and what fresh danger you believe it presents, and above all, explain why he should help you. But do it in one word. You're thinking it is impossible that such a word exists, or that you could even find it. Let's see if the gods are with you."

* * *

A few minutes later, after Clara had left Madame Vastra's home, she rang the Doctor. He picked it up. "Yes? What? I'm trying to read," the Doctor said.

"Miss Clara and her concerns about the snow," Madame Vastra said. "I gave her the one word test."

"That's always pointless. What did she say? Well? Well?"

"Pond. Strax has already suggested where to start investigating. The Great Intelligence Institute."

The Doctor hung up the phone, in shock, and stood up slowly, just as the Professor and Belle walked in.

"Dad?" The Professor asked. "What's wrong?"

"Madame Vastra just called with Clara's one word test results..."

The Professor's face lit up. "Did you say Clara?"

"Yes. Anyway we need to go to the Great Intelligence Institute..." The Doctor then went down a hallway to get ready.

"I'll come along..." the Professor called out, then turned to face Belle, smiling.

"See?" Belle asked. "It's fate. You and Clara are destined to be together. You can have a happy ending with her..."

"I know," the Professor agreed. "She'll be mine. And I'll make sure nothing will come between us..."

* * *

A few hours later, at the Great Intelligence Institute, the Snowglobe warned Walter Simeon, "Danger. Danger."

Walter Simeon stood up and walked to it. "What's wrong?"

"There is danger here. An intelligence. An intelligence beyond anything else in this time and place.

Just then, the doors opened and a servant ran in. "sir. There's some people demanding to see you," he said.

"No callers, not in here, not ever. Did he leave his name?" Walter asked.

"Sir, it's Sherlock Holmes. And his son."

Like on cue, the Doctor (dressed in a deerstalker hat, cape, walking cane, and with a Meerschaum pipe, which was unlit) and the Professor walked in. "Oh, nice office. Big globey thing. Now, shut up, don't tell me! I see from your collar stud you have an apple tree and a wife with a limp. Am I right?" The Doctor asked the servant.

"No," the servant said.

"Do you have a wife?"

"No."

"Bit of a tree? Bit of a wife? Some apples? Come on, work with me here."

"Dad, face it," the Professor said. "He hasn't got any of what you say..."

Walter Simeon stood right in front of the Doctor and said, "I enjoy The Strand magazine as much as the next man, but I am perfectly aware that Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character. Get out!"

"Do you have a goldfish named Colin?" The Doctor asked the servant again.

"No," the servant said.

"Thought not. Now, ooo. I see this is one of your business cards. It says so on the front," the Doctor said, looking around a bit.

"Well, that's one way of getting stuff right..." the Professor noted.

"Who are you, and What are you doing here?" Walter said.

"This. Wakey, wakey!" The Doctor exclaimed, whacking the globe with his cane.

"That is highly valuable equipment. You must step away now."

"We are the Intelligence," the Snowglobe said.

"Ooo. Talking snow. I love new things," the Doctor said.

"You are not of this world."

"Takes one to snow one. Right, let's see. Multi-nucleate crystalline organism with the ability to mimic and mirror what it finds. Looks like snow. Isn't snow."

"You must leave here now."

"Shut up, I'm making deductions. It's very exciting. Now, what are you, eh? A flock of space crystals? A swarm? The snowmen are foot soldiers, mindless predators. But you, you're the clever one. You're Moriarty. So, you turn up on a planet, you generate a telepathic field to learn what you can, and when you've learnt enough, what do you do? You can't conquer the world using snowmen. Snowmen are rubbish in July. You'll have to be better than that. You'll have to evolve."

As the Doctor was speaking, the Professor saw the Servant, and knew he would go get security, so he waved his hand and locked the doors. The servant came back and tried to get in, but couldn't. "Sir!" He yelled through. "It appears to be stuck!."

Walter Simeon went over and tried to help get it open again, and while he did, the Professor looked around his books and notes. He accidentally knocked one off the table and it landed on an open page, with a newspaper cutting titled Tragedy at Darkover House. He bent down and picked it up, starting to read about it. As he read, he muttered aloud, "...Governess frozen in Pond,..." He looked up and said, "Dad. I found something..."

The Doctor went over to his son. "What is it?"

"This," the Professor said, showing him the newspaper article.

"Gotcha..." the Doctor said, then headed for the window, sneaking out of it.

The Professor followed him, waving his hand behind him, unlocking the door, before going out the window too.

"The door's open now, sir," the servant said.

Walter Simeon pulled him into the room, with the two guards following close behind. "Get in here! Take them downstairs!" But they found that the Doctor and the Professor were nowhere to be seen.


	8. The Snowmen: Sherlock Holmes

**Chapter FIVE: Sherlock Holmes**

A couple of hours later, outside Darkover House, the Doctor, the Professor and Belle were all standing by the pond, inspecting it.

"Body frozen in a pond. The snow gets a good long look at a human being, like a full body scan. Everything they need to evolve. Pond. Good point, Clara," the Doctor said.

Strax then walked up behind them, whom the Professor noticed first, and said, "Dad. Strax is here..."

The Doctor inhaled deeply and turned around, asking, "What are you doing here?"

"Madame Vastra wondered if you were needing any grenades?" Strax responded.

"Grenades?" Belle asked. "Are you sure she didn't say help...?"

"She...may have said that..." Strax said, sheepishly.

"Help for what?" The Doctor asked.

"Well, your guys' investigation."

"Investigation? Who says we're investigating? Do you think _I_ am going to start investigating just because some bird smiles at me? Who do you think I am?"

"Sherlock Holmes."

"Don't be clever, Strax. It doesn't suit you."

"Sorry, sir."

"I'm the clever one, you're the potato one."

"Yes, sir."

"Now go away.

"Yes ... Mister Holmes," Strax said, as he was walking away.

"Oi! Shut up. You're not clever or funny and you've got little legs!" The Doctor shouted back.

As this was going on, Belle looked behind them at the house, and saw a light in the window. She looked closer and saw Clara. Belle turned around and got the Professor's attention. "Look..." she whispered, pointing in the direction of the window.

The Professor turned his head and smiled when he saw Clara. He waved, and she waved back. Clara gestured for the Professor to come up, and he used his hand to say he'll be there in five minutes, before watching Clara retract from the window. He started to leave the pond and said, "Come on, dad..."

"Why?" The Doctor asked, looking up.

"Because I think I may have told Clara we'll be up there in the house in five minutes..."

As the three of them left the pond, neither one of the three saw that the ice covering the pond began to crack.

* * *

Outside the walls of the Darkover House, the Paternoster Gang, watched as one of Walter Simeon's carriages pulled up outside and he exited. As they watched, Strax said, "It's the human male from the Institute. What's he doing here? Suggest we melt his brain using projectile acid fish, and then question him." Strax then noticed Madame Vastra and Jenny looking at him, so he added, "Other way round."

* * *

In the bedroom of Darkover House, Clara was tucking Francesca and Digby into bed, when Francesca asked Clara, "Am I going to have the nightmare tonight?"

"Definitely not," Clara said.

"How do you know?"

"Because some people are coming to help."

"Who?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Is it one of your stories? Your "definitely true" ones?"

"All my stories are true."

"Like how you were born behind the clock face of Big Ben?" Digby asked.

"Accounting for my acute sense of time," Clara said.

"And you invented fish..." Francesca said.

"Because I dislike swimming alone," Clara said.

"So what's this one?" Digby asked.

"There's a young man called the Professor. And he has a father called the Doctor. They live on a cloud in the sky, and all they does, all day every day, is to stop all the children in the world ever having bad dreams," Clara started to explain.

"I've had bad dreams," Francesca chimed in.

"Now,the Doctor has been on holiday. But I am confident he has now returned to work. And in fact, their family is right here," Clara said, as the door opened in the room, which caused a draft of wind to flow in, making a candle flicker. "Aren't you, Doctor?" Clara asked, but instead of the Doctor entering the room, it was a woman made of ice, which made the children scream, as they saw it was their earlier governess. "Bloomin' hell!" Clara exclaimed, using her other voice.

"The children have been very naughty," the Ice Governess said.

"Get back. Now. Quickly," Clara said, ushering the two children behind her.

"You're doing your other voice," Digby said, noticing Clara's voice had changed.

"Yes love, did you notice?"

"Naughty, naughty children," the Ice Governess said again.

"Run!" Clara ordered, going with the children to the next room.


	9. The Snowmen: The Power of the Blue Fairy

**Chapter SIX: The Power of the Blue Fairy**

Clara and the two children ran to the schoolroom where Digby asked, "What do we do?"

"Frannie, Frannie, imagine her melting," Clara said.

"What?" Francesca asked.

"In your head. Melt her."

"I can't."

"I'm getting impatient!" The Ice Governess said, forcing the door open. "You have been very naughty!"

"What about that family? You said a family was here, the cloud family," Digby said.

"Well, he's not, is he?" Clara asked, frantically.

"Where are they? The Doctor and the Professor?"

"I don't know!"

"Doctor? Doctor? Doctor who?" A Punch puppet said, aiming a sonic screwdriver at the Ice Governess, making it shatter to the ground. The Doctor popped his head out from the puppet box, and said, still in Punch's voice, "That's the way to do it." Punch then kissed the Doctor and he said, "Oi. Ow."

The Professor and Belle stepped out from their hiding place, which was just behind a shelf, and went up with Clara and the children. "Hello again," the Professor said, hugging Clara tightly, who hugged back with a smile.

Francesca spoke up and asked."Where did she go? Will she come back?"

"No, don't worry. She's currently draining through your carpet. New setting. Anti-freeze. And you're very welcome, by the way," the Doctor said.

"I'm very grateful. I knew you guys would come," Clara said.

"No, you didn't, because I don't. Because this isn't the sort of thing I do any more. Next time you're in trouble, don't expect me to."

"Well, I would have come to help you," the Professor said. "I'll always protect you..."

As the Professor was talking, the Doctor had been distracted with his reflection in the mirror, which Clara had picked up on. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Sorry, it's just. Didn't know I'd put it on," the Doctor said, as he straightened his bowtie, not noticing the ice growing on the windows. "Old habits..."

"It's cooler," Clara started to say.

"Yeah, it is, isn't it? It is very cool. Bow ties are cool."

"Uh, Doctor..." Belle started to say, "I really don't think that's what she meant..."

Everyone turned around as a bulge started to form in the middle of the carpet.

"She's coming back!" Digby exclaimed.

"What's she going to do? Is she going to punish me?" Francesca asked.

"Er, er, she's learnt not to melt. Of course, she's not really a governess, she's just a beast. She's going to eat you," the Doctor said.

"Way to reassure a child, dad..." the Professor said.

"Well, we should run then..." the Doctor said, leading everyone out the door and down the stairs, where they bumped into Captain Latimer.

Captain Latimer saw his children and started to say, "Children, what is the expla-" Then he saw the Doctor, the Professor and Belle. "Who the devil are you three? What are you all doing in my house?"

"It's okay. I am the father of your governess' gentleman friend. They've been upstairs kissing, and needed to take him home. With the help of my sister-in-law..." the Doctor said, gesturing to Belle.

At that moment, Alice ran past them, exclaiming, "Captain Latimer. In the garden, there's snowmen! And they're just growing out of nowhere, all by themselves. Look!" She went to the front door, to open it, and show everybody the growing snowmen, when she met Madame Vastra at the door with Jenny.

"Good evening," Madame Vastra started to say. "I'm a Lizard Woman from the Dawn of Time, and this is my wife." She gestured to Jenny.

The shock at seeing Madame Vastra made Alice scream and she ran into the house again, where she met Strax.

"This dwelling is under attack. Remain calm, human scum," Strax said.

Alice screamed again then fainted, which made the Doctor ask Captain latimer, "So, any questions?"

"Clara has a gentleman friend?" Captain Latimer responded in too much shock to comprehend the situation at this time.

"Vastra, what's happening?" The Doctor asked, coming down the stairs and meeting Madame Vastra, who did a quick scan.

"The snow is highly localised, and on this occasion not naturally occurring," Madame Vastra said.

"It's coming out of that cab parked by the gates," Jenny said.

"What Cab is this?" Belle asked.

"The one from the institute," Madame Vastra.

"Oh, him..." the Professor muttered.

"Sir, one pulver grenade would blow these snowmen to smithereens," Strax said.

"They're made of snow, Strax. They're already smithereens," the Doctor said to Strax, then turned to Clara, "See, Clara? Our friends again."

"Clara? Who's Clara?" Captain Latimer asked.

"Clara is the name of your govrness," the Professor started to explain, "And from my resources, a former barmaid..."

"That's the way to do it!" The Ice Governess exclaimed, as she walked slowly to them down the hall.

"Oh, and you're previous governess is now a living ice sculpture that has taken a fancy to Punch." The Professor stopped to have a think, then said again. "I think I know what to do..." He inputted some coördinates on his Vortex Manipulator and vanished in a flash, then reappeared with Mother Superior. "Um, Blue...Do you have anything that could stop that Ice Governess?"

Mother Superior nodded and took out her wand, and focused on creating a barrier with her magic, which shot out of her wand and trapped the Ice Governess upstairs. "That should be strong enough..." she said.

"What's wrong with your magic...?" The Doctor asked in a hush tone.

"Nothing..." the Professor said. "I just thought we should try fairy magic..."

Strax, who had searched around the ground floor, then spoke up. "Sir, this room. One observational window on the line of attack and one defendable entrance."

The Doctor agreed and ushered everybody into the room. "Right, everyone in there. Now. Move it." He then pointed to Alice's body. "Someone, carry her."

"I will," the Professor said, waving his hand and creating a blue magic cloud that poofed them to the next room.

"Nice to see you off your cloud and engaging again," Madame Vastra said, going over to the Doctor.

"I'm not engaging again, I'm under attack," the Doctor said.

"You missed this, didn't you?"

They were interrupted by the Ice Governess battering on the protection barrier. "Shut up."


	10. The Snowmen: The Fall

**Chapter SEVEN: The Fall**

While in the study, the Doctor asked Strax, "Strax, how long have we got?"

"They're not going to attack. They made no attempt to hide their arrival. An attack force would never abandon surprise so easily, and they're clearly in a defence formation," Strax said.

"Way, aye, aye. Well done, Straxie. Still got it, buddy," the Doctor said, giving a noogie to Strax then kissing him on the top of the head.

"Sir, please do not noogie me during combat prep," Strax said.

"So there's something here they want."

"That iced governess," the Professor said. "That book at the institute was full of tidbits about the governess who died in the pond..."

"Exactly," the Doctor said.

"Why's she so important?" Jenny asked.

"Because she's a perfect duplication of human DNA in ice crystal form. The greatest fusion of snow and humanity. To live here, the snow needs to evolve and she's the blueprint. She's what they need to become. Clara, when the snow melted last night, did the pond?"

"No," Clara said.

"Living ice that will never melt. If the snow gets hold of that creäture on the stairs, it will learn to make more of them. It will build an army of ice. And it will be the last day of humanity on this planet." The doorbell rang and the Doctor started to walk out into the entrance hall, with the Professor following.

"Everyone. Stay here," the Professor said. "Blue. Belle. Both of you are in charge." Mother Superior nodded and he walked into the entrance hall. "Dad. What do we do?"

The Doctor was about to answer when he saw Clara follow them. "Oi. You were told to stay in there."

"Oh, I didn't listen.," Clara said.

"She does that a lot, Dad..." the Professor started to explain.

Clara took the Professor's hand, and hold it softly, then looked into his eyes as she spoke. "It's why you like me."

"Who said I like you?" The Professor asked.

"That heart you gave me kinda gives it away..." Clara said, leaning into the Professor and kissing him long and hard, cupping his cheek softly. To Clara, she felt as though the whole world would disappear around her. Nothing else mattered. No one else existed. To her, it felt right.

After a few seconds, the Professor pulled away softly, breathing softly and feeling his hearts beat. "Wow..."

As Clara and the Professor were being romantic, the Doctor had gone to the front door and opened it, where he was greeted by Walter Simeon. After a few seconds, later he went back to his son and Clara. "We need to get her out of here but keep her away from them," he said.

"How do we do that?" The Professor asked.

The Doctor took an umbrella from the stand and said, "With this. Do I always have to state the obvious?"

"No. I was meaning about the force field that Blue put up. Only she can break it..."

Just on cue, Mother Superior walked out of the study and asked, "What are those creatures outside? Do I need to cast any spells?"

"They are no danger to you as long as the Ice Governess is out of here..." the Doctor began. "Now, can you allow us access up there?"

Mother Superior nodded. "Yeah. As long as I have concentration." She took her wand and aimed it at the forcefield. The forcefield turned off and the Doctor, the Professor and Clara went up the stairs, before it came back on again behind them.

"Right, Blue and Clara, look after everyone here, then I can-" the Doctor said, then noticed Clara beside them. "Clara!"

"Doctor," Clara said, as all three of them dodged under the Ice Governess' arms and ran up the stairs.

"That was stupid."

"You were stupid, too."

"I think she wanted to be with me," the Professor said.

"That's the way to do it!" The Ice Governess exclaimed.

"Why does she keep saying that?" Clara asked.

"Mirroring. Random mirroring. We need to get on the roof," the Doctor exclaimed.

The Professor was still holding Clara's hand from earlier and started running with her to the roof. "I think it's this way." But what he didn't know was that Clara had grabbed the Doctor's hand too.

"Wait!" The Doctor exclaimed. "I do the hand grabbing. That's my job. That's always me!"

The Professor turned his head around, chuckling. "Guess like I've been promoted." He continued leading them to the window to the roof, where he got out first, then the Doctor.

Clara was the last one out but she got her bustle stuck through the window.

"Come on, quickly! What are you doing?" The Doctor asked.

"My bustle is stuck," Clara said.

"Your bustle?"

"Allow me," the Professor said, motioning his hand to him, using his magic to pull Clara out to the rooftop. "You alright?" He asked. Clara nodded. "Good. Some of those clothes are gonna have to come off..." the Professor started to say, then trailed off, catching himself. "I think that came out wrong..."

"I understand what you were trying to get at," Clara said. "At least, I think I do..."

"Ah, thank God..." the Professor said to himself.

"Now, what's the plan?" Clara asked.

"Who said we've got a plan?" The Doctor said.

"Doctor. You must have a plan. You took that," Clara said, pointing to the umbrella.

"Maybe I'm an idiot."

"You're not. You're clever. Really clever.

The Doctor threw the umbrella to Clara. "If I've got a plan, what is it? You tell me."

"That's the way to do it!" The Ice Governess exclaimed.

"Is this a test?" Clara said.

"Yes," the Doctor said.

"What will it do to us?"

"Kill us."

"That's the way to do it!" The Ice Governess exclaimed again, as it turned itself into snow to get through the window.

"So, come on then. Plan. Do I have one?" The Doctor asked.

"Oh, I know what your plan is. I knew straight away," Clara said.

"No, you didn't."

"Course I did."

"Show me."

"Why should I?"

"Because we'll be dead in under thirty seconds. Do I have a plan?"

"If we'd been escaping, we'd be climbing down the building. If we'd been hiding, we'd be on the other side of the roof. But no, we're standing right here."

"So?"

"So..." Clara said, reaching up with the umbrella and pulling the ladder down.

The Professor went over to the ladder and gestured his father to go up first. "After you..."

The Doctor looked at him curiously. "Why me first?"

"Because Clara and I have our own little system..."

The Doctor rolled his eyes and started to climb the ladder, then it was the Professor's turn. As Clara stepped on the first rung, she turned to face the Ice Governess and said, "I understand you're the previous governess. I regret to tell you the position is taken. Goodnight." Clara then tapped the ladder with the umbrella, and it raised into the air, where she joined the Doctor and the Professor on the staircase platform. "So you can move this cloud? You can control it?"

"No. No one can control clouds, that would be silly. The wind, a bit," the Doctor said, as all three started to climb the staircase.

"She's following us," Clara said, as she noticed the Ice Governess behind them.

"That's the idea. Keep her away from the snow. So. Barmaid or governess, which is it?

"Dad," the Professor started to say, "why do you wanna have chats in the weirdest of times?"

"Well, we can't chat after we've been horribly killed, can we?" The Doctor said.

"Uh, how did we get up so high so quick?" Clara asked, looking over the sides.

"Clever staircase. It's taller on the inside."

All three climbed onto the cloud again and the Doctor moved some of the cloud over the entrance with his sonic screwdriver.

"What am I standing on, what's this made of?" Clara asked.

"Super dense water vapour. Should keep her trapped for the moment," the Doctor said.

"Do you actually live up here? On a cloud, in a box?" Clara asked.

"I have done so for a long time now."

"Blimey, you really know how to sulk, don't you?"

"I'm not sulking."

"You live in a box!"

"That's no more a box than you are a governess."

"Dad," the Professor began, "do you have to criticize everyone I like?

The Doctor just shook his head and went into the TARDIS, with the Professor and Clara following.

"Oh, just like a man," Clara said. "You know, Doctor, you're the same as all the rest. Sweet little Clara, works at the Rose And Crown, ideas above her station. Well, for your information, I'm not sweet on the inside, and I'm certainly not-" As soon as Clara entered the TARDIS and saw that it was bigger on the inside, she was surprised, and finished her sentence off, quietly. "-little."

"It's called the Tardis. It can travel anywhere in time and space. And it's my family's," the Doctor said.

Clara was still in shock and awe, still looking around at the interior. "But it's. Look at it, it's..." Clara managed to say.

The Professor put an arm around Clara and said, "Say what you're thinking, Clara. Everyone says it at first. It's one of the things that makes Dad smile."

Instead, Clara went outside and circled the exterior, before coming back into the ship. "It's smaller on the outside," she said, which amazed both Time Lords.

"Okay, that is a first.," the Doctor said.

"Is this more magic?" Clara asked. "Is it a machine?"

The Professor chuckled, watching Clara as he leaned against the console. "Well, Dad will call it a ship. But, really, it is so much more."

"How so?" Clara asked.

"It's the best ship in the universe," the Doctor explained.

"Is there a kitchen?"

"Another first."

"I don't know why I asked that. It's just, I like making soufflés."

The Doctor and the Professor both looked up and went over to Clara. "Soufflés?" The Professor asked, starting to remember Oswin. "Haven't heard of them an a while..."

"Why are you showing me all this?" Clara asked.

"You followed us, remember? We didn't invite you," the Doctor said.

"Both of you are nearly a foot taller than I am. You could've reached the ladder without this. You took it for me. Why?" Clara asked the Doctor, giving him the umbrella.

"I never know why. I only know who," the Doctor said, putting a TARDIS key in Clara's hand.

"What's this?" Clara asked.

"Me. Welcoming you to the family."

"I don't know why I'm crying," Clara said, as the Professor wrapped both arms around her, as he beamed.

"I do. Remember this. This right now, remember all of it. Because this is the day. This is the day. This is the day everything begins," the Doctor said, cranking up the TARDIS.

"Need some help, Dad?" The Professor asked, going over to the console too. But before the Doctor could answer, the Ice Governess entered the TARDIS and grabbed Clara, making her drop the key as she was dragged outside.

"Get off of me!" Clara exclaimed.

Both the Doctor and the Professor stopped what they were doing and rushed out, trying to help Clara. "Water vapour doesn't stop ice. I should've realised," the Doctor said.

"Get off!" Clara yelled.

"Please let her go," the Professor begged. "I love her..."

"Get off of me!" Clara yelled again, as both she and the Ice Governess fell off the cloud backwards, which made the Doctor and the Professor lean over the side, knowing that they couldn't do anything now.


	11. The Snowmen: Save the World

**Chapter EIGHT: Save The World**

Back in the study of Darkover House, everyone in the room heard the thump that was outside. Mother Superior Madame Vastra all went to the window to have a look.

"What was that?" Madame Vastra asked.

"I believe that was Clara…" Mother Superior said, then looked over at Madame Vastra. "What's that?"

"It's a detector. I'm checking for life signs."  
Captain Latimer went to the window and peered out. "Dear God. Oh, dear God. Where did she fall from? We have to get her inside," he said.

"No. The Doctor made it perfectly clear that we weren't allowed to step out there," Mother Superior said.

"She's hurt," Captain Latimer said.

"She's dead," Madame Vastra said, as the sound of the TARDIS was heard throughout the room.

"What is that? What is happening?" Captain Latimer asked, as the Madame Vastra saw the TARDIS materialise around Clara.

"They're bringing her in," Madame Vastra said.

* * *

A short time later, Clara lay on a table in the Study, with Mother Superior using her wand on Clara, with fairy dust coming from it, while Strax used some of his technology on her. Standing outside the TARDIS, which was parked in the corner of the room, was Belle and the Professor, who were hugging each other.

Captain Latimer went up to the table, where Strax and Mother Superior were working, and spoke up. "That green woman said she was dead. How can she be alive now?"

"This technology has capacities and abilities beyond anything your puny human mind could possibly understand. Try not to worry," Strax said.

"And I'm doing all I can," Mother Superior said. "But fairy magic is the purest of them all. If it does work, then Clara will have a half life. A cursed life."

The Professor went over to them. "But true love's kiss will work, right?"

Mother Superior shook her head. "I fear it won't be that type of curse."

The Professor sighed and sat next to Clara, stroking her body, sadly. He felt a lump in a pocket and put his hand in it, taking out the heart. He smiled as he saw it. "The heart," he said, then noticed Mother Superior looking at him with a confused look. "I made this heart with melted ice and I put an enchantment on it, so it would never melt or break. I guess it worked." He put the heart in his pocket and picked up Clara's hand, and cupped it in both his hands and placed it on his forehead.

* * *

Meanwhile, Madame Vastra entered the TARDIS and found the Doctor scanning the ice fragments from the Ice Governess. "Isn't the creature still a danger? It could reform," Madame Vastra said.

"No, not in here," the Doctor said.

"Then you should be with Miss Clara. And your son."

"She's going to be fine. I know she is. She has to be."

"Doctor, her injuries are severe. That equipment will bring back anyone for a while, but long term-"

"It was my fault. I am responsible for what happened to Clara. She was in my care."

"What is the point of blaming yourself?"

"None. Because she's going to live," the Doctor said, going out of the TARDIS and going to Jenny, where he handed her a London Underground Souvenir tin, which rattled, before going over to Clara. "Hey. Hello," he said.

"They all think I'm going to die, don't they?" Clara asked.

"But I know you will live," the Professor said.

"How?"

"My love for you. It's illuminating me." The Professor smiled and kissed her forehead, while the Doctor gave her the TARDIS key again.

"The green lady. She said you were the saver of worlds once. Are you going to save this one?" Clara asked.

"If I do, will you come away with us?" The Doctor asked.

"Yes."

"Well then. Merry Christmas." The Doctor straightened his bowtie and then took back the tin from Jenny, before going over to the front door to talk to Walter Simeon. "I have in my hand a piece of the Ice Lady. Everything you need to know about how to make ice people. Is that what you want?" Walter outstretched his arm, but the Doctor never gave him the tin. Instead, he said, "See you at the office" The Doctor slammed the door and went back to the TARDIS, with Madame Vastra and Mother Superior following him.

"So then, Doctor, saving the world again? Might I ask why? Are you making a bargain with the universe? You'll save the world to let her live?" Madame Vastra asked, once all three were in the TARDIS.

"Yes. And don't you think, after all this time and everything I've ever done, that I am owed this one?" The Doctor said.

"I don't think the universe makes bargains."

"It was my fault."

"Well then. Better save the world," Madame Vastra said, as the TARDIS started.


	12. The Snowmen: The Dream Comes Real

**Chapter NINE: The Dream Comes Real**

A few minutes later, the Doctor, Madame Vastra and Mother Superior were all waiting for Walter Simeon to arrive when he finally entered the room. "You promised us something. Have you brought it?" He asked in a gruff tone.

"Big fella here's been very quiet while you've been out. Which is only to be expected, considering who he really is," the Doctor said, getting up from his seat and holding up the tin to the snowglobe. "Do you know what this is, big fella?"

"I do not understand these markings," the Snowglobe said.

"A map of the London Underground, 1967. Key strategic weakness in metropolitan living, if you ask me, but then I have never liked a tunnel."

"Enough of this. We are powerful, but on this planet we are limited. We need to learn to take human form," the Snowglobe said, as the Doctor turned around and faced his colleagues in the room, as he took his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and put it behind him, using it to make the Snowglobe's voice raise in pitch. "The Governess is our most perfect replication of humanity," the Snowglobe continued.

"And what is happening to its voice?" Mother Superior asked.

"Just stripping away the disguise," the Doctor said.

"No, stop! Stop that. Cease, I command you," the Snowglobe said again.

"It sounds like a child," Madame Vastra noted.

"Of course it sounds like a child. It is a child. Simeon as a child. The snow has no voice without him," the Doctor said.

"Don't listen to him, he's ruining everything," the Snowglobe said again.

"How long has the Intelligence been talking to you?" The Doctor asked Walter.

"I was a little boy. He was my snowman. He spoke to me," Walter answered, bringing back memories of him speaking to a snowman he had just made as a child.

"But the snow doesn't talk, does it? It's just a mirror," the Doctor continued. "It just reflects back everything we think and feel and fear. You poured your darkest dreams into a snowman and look, look what it became."

"I don't understand," Madame Vastra said.

"It's a parasite feeding on the loneliness of a child and the sickness of an old man. Carnivorous snow meets Victorian values and something terrible is born," the Doctor said.

"We can go on and do everything we planned" the Snowglobe said.

"Oh yes, and what a plan. A world full of living ice people. Oh dear me, how very Victorian of you."

Walter Simeon went up to the Doctor and snatched the souvenir tin off him, starting to open it. "What's wrong with Victorian values?" He asked.

"Ah, ah, ah. Are you sure?" The Doctor asked.

"I have always been sure," Walter Simeon said, as the memory worm crept out of the box and bit him.

"Good. I'm glad you think so, since your entire adult life is about to be erased. No parasite without a host. Without you, it will have no voice. Without the governess, it will have no form," the Doctor explained.

The Snowglobe started to power down. "What, what, what's happening? What's happening? What did you do?"

"You've got nothing left to mirror any more. Goodbye.

"What did you, did you-" the Snowglobe said, then suddenly, it filled with more snow, and its voice deepened again. "Did you really think it would be so easy?"

"That's not possible. How is that possible?" The Doctor asked.

Madame Vastra looked out the window and saw more snow outside, falling to the ground. "Doctor?" She said.

But the Doctor was too busy with the Snowglobe. "But you were just Doctor Simeon. You're not real. He dreamed you. How can you still exist?"

"Now the dream outlives the dreamer and can never die. Once I was the puppet..." the Snowglobe said, just as Walter Simeon was reanimated as an icy ghoul. "...Now I pull the strings! I tried so long to take on human form. By erasing Simeon, you made space for me. I fill him now." Madame Vastra went to fight the icy puppet, but it just knocked her out of the way - causing Mother Superior to go over and help her up - and grabbed the Doctor. "More than snow, more than Simeon. Even this old body is strong in my control."

"Argh!" The Doctor exclaimed.

"Do you feel it? Winter is coming!" The Snowglobe said, as Walter's touch started to freeze the Doctor's skin. "Winter is coming!"

Mother Superior took her wand out and aimed it at the Snowglobe and concentrated, but dropped her wand suddenly. Madame Vastra went over and asked, "What is it? What's wrong?"

"The Snowglobe. It's too powerful," Mother Superior started to explain.

"Well, perhaps you need something more powerful. Something as equally as dark..."

Mother Superior shook her head. "You don't know what you're saying. But it needs to be destroyed. If whatever this is gets to present-day Storybrooke, it could wipe it off the map."

"So what do you suggest?"

"I don't know. A miracle, perhaps?"

* * *

Back in the study of Darkover House, Strax was still trying to help Clara recover. "No, you must fight. Hang on and fight, boy. You can do it," he said.

Captain Latimer went over to Clara, where she said to him, "Captain Latimer. Your children. They're afraid. Hold them."

"It's not really my area," Captain Latimer said.

"It is now," Clara said, as a single tear ran from Clara's eye, where it meet one of the Professor's, and once the two tear drops met, it glowed golden-purple in colour.

* * *

Back at the Great Intelligence Institute, the Snowglobe started to fill with melt water, which made Walter Simeon leap off the Doctor.

"What's happening?" The Snowglobe asked.

"Doctor, the globe. It's turning to rain. All of it, the snow, look," Madame Vastra said, as Walter Simeon died, which was noticed by Madame Vastra. "He's dead. What happened?"

"The snow mirrors, that's all it does. It's mirroring something else now. Something so strong, it's drowning everything else," the Doctor said, then went to Mother Superior, who had opened a window and outstretched his hand too. "There was a critical mass of snow at the house. If something happened there..." The Doctor tasted the rainwater that collected on his hand, like Mother Superior.

"How can rain water taste salty?" Mother Superior asked.

"It's not raining. It's crying. The only force on Earth that could drown the snow. A whole family crying on Christmas Eve," the Doctor explained.

* * *

A few minutes later, the TARDIS materialised in the study and all three exited. The Doctor went over to Clara and the Professor, where he was informed by Strax the situation. "I'm sorry. There was nothing to be done. She has moments only," Strax said.

"We saved the world, Clara, you and me. We really, really did," the Doctor said.

"Are you going back to your cloud?" Clara asked.

"No more cloud. Not now."

"Why not?"

"It rained."

"Run. Run, you clever boys. And remember," C'ara said, before she died, just as the clock struck midnight.

"It's Christmas. Christmas Day," Digby said.


	13. The Snowmen: A Third Shot at True Love

**Chapter TEN: A Third Shot at True Love**

The next morning, everyone was at the cemetery. Mother Superior, who decided to give a short service to Clara; the Professor; and the Latimer family were all at Clara's gravestone, while Madame Vastra, Jenny, Belle and the Doctor were all talking about what had just happened.

"And what about the Intelligence? Melted with the snow?" Madame Vastra asked.

"No, I shouldn't think so. It learned to survive beyond physical form," the Doctor said.

"Well, we can't be in much danger from a disembodied Intelligence that thinks it can invade the world with snowmen," Jenny said.

"Or that the London Underground is a key strategic weakness," Madame Vastra said.

"The Great Intelligence. Rings a bell. The Great Intelligence," the Doctor said, putting a Great Intelligence Institute card into his pocket.

"Maybe...it's because you fought it before..." Belle said.

"It's possible," the Doctor said. "I have been around for centuries." He walked up to the gravestone, as the Latimer family walked away. He put an arm around his son. "It's gonna be alright."

"I hope so," the Professor said, as he kneeled down to Clara's grave. He put a hand on the gravestone and said, "I'll never forget you." He brushed some flowers out of the way, revealing her full name: CLARA OSWIN OSWALD. "Oswin..." he whispered, standing up slowly. "Dad look at her name."

The Doctor did so, and he too was shocked.

"What's with her name?" Mother Superior asked.

"We never knew her full name," the Professor said. "But, now that I think of it, she did sound familiar." The Professor then started to remember some of what Oswin had said. _"Oswin Oswald. Junior Entertainment Manager, Starship Alaska."_

"Soufflé girl. Oswin. It was her," the Doctor said.

"Wait. The girl from the Dalek Asylum was here?" Belle asked.

Both the Doctor and the Professor nodded, remembering what both versions of Clara had said to them both. _"Run, you clever boys. And remember me."_

"It was soufflé girl again. We never saw her face the first time with the Daleks, but her voice, it was the same voice," the Doctor said.

"Doctor?" Jenny asked.

"This means I must have a third chance at true love," the Professor said excitedly. "It only makes sense that there'll be another Clara out there."

"If so..." Mother Superior started to say, "...then fate must want you and Clara to be together."

"Please, what are you guys talking about?" Madame Vastra asked.

"Something's going on. Something impossible..." the Doctor started to say.

"Or something magical..." the Professor said. "It must be something..."

"Right, you two stay here. Stay right here. Don't move an inch," the Doctor told Madame Vastra and Jenny.

"Are you coming back?" Madame Vastra asked,

"Shouldn't think so!" The Doctor called back, as he went with the Professor, Belle and Mother Superior back to the TARDIS

"But where are you going?"

"To find her. To find Clara. Ha ha ha!" The Doctor said, as he turned a corner.

"But Clara's dead. What's he talking about, finding her?" Jenny asked, as both females stared at Clara's gravestone, which had her final message engraved on it: REMEMBER ME, FOR WE SHALL MEET AGAIN.

"I don't know love," Madame Vastra said. "But perhaps Mother Superior is right. Maybe fate does want the Professor to find love and happiness."

* * *

A few hundred years later, a young female visited the graveyard with her friend. She hadn't stepped in this graveyard for at least six months. The last time, she was running late for her university class, but now, she was fully graduated and working as a nanny.

"Where are you going?" The young female's friend called out.

"Short cut," the young female said.

"Through there? I hate this place! Don't you think it's creepy?"

"Nah," the female said, shaking her head, before turning around, revealing that she was in fact another version of Clara. "I don't believe in ghosts."


End file.
